Crimes of Passion
|
Let me first just say that this is a wonderfully magnificent novel told by a master storyteller and that every sentence is richly woven and a pleasure to read.
The story is that of a tragic love and a quest for revenge. The narrative is constructed in 5 parts. Those of India (later to be Kashmira), Boonyi, Max, and Shalimar the clown. Each section brings us close to the person involved and shares with us their loves, drives, passions and losses.
Boonyi and Shalimar share a deep love set against the background of a Kashmiri village. Yet Boonyi longs for something more, and when Max, an influenial and powerful American dimplomat arrives for the festivities Boonyi taks her chance and Max takes her away. Yet we find that neither get what they want out of their promises to eachother and lose much themselves...and so they seperate and Boonyi returns to her love Shalimar who has rejected her and sworn an oath to kill her, her lover and any children they may have had. They had a girl, India/Kashmira.
Shalimar's loss is irrevocable and he is inconsolable. He sets out on his quest for revenge, revenge for the love and the life and happiness taken from him.
Max, we find, is a hero. A diplomat, writer, WW2 resistance fighter, flying jew, and much, much more. He has had his own losses in life, but has fought to overcome them. He became infatuated with a Kashmiri girl and lost his wife, position, respectability and ultimately his life.
Shalimar becomes a terrorist assassin and hones his skills ready for the task ahead of him.
India/Kashmira finds her father murdered, his head almost severed.
We understand the motivations of Shalimar, yet we understand the motivations of Max and Boonyi. What do we want to happen? What does happen? Are the murderous machinations of one man justifiable and how far can he go? Can crimes of passion be excused and explained and who is to be held accountable?
Strip everything away, the motivations and the emmotions, and what is right, where is the good in all this? Rushdie sets it up perfectly, weaves our symathies and allegiances for each character together into a fine mesh right up until the end. And the last short concise sentence tells us everything we need to know and understand.
|
|
|
Rushdie at his best:
|
This is storytelling magic of the highest order: whirlwind story and characters that stay with you long after you have finished the book (hell, the character of Shalimar will burn a hole into your memory) weaved together into historical events of the last 70 years.
This is also a history of violence of mythological proportion. No glimpse of hope is offered. It relates how violence reappears throughout history everywhere in the world under different incarnations and, more specifically, how it entered and took control of Kashmir, seen as a paradise on earth. No place is safe from the madness. Our lives, whether in Kashmir, France, Los Angeles or Malaysia, seem to be in the hands of bloodthirsty demons. Salman Rushdie delivers us an important message: their god is not your god; theirs is one of violence and revenge, not of love and forgiveness. (I believe the author is picturing a certain relationship and dynamic of violence rather than expressing any judgment on any specific religion.) This is not the first time the message is given but never before with the force of this great, brilliant book. (On a minor note, I think the author is much better at describing the violence in Kashmir than the horrors of the Nazi occupation.)
A must read in addition to being the perfect introduction to the work of Salman Rushdie as people will probably find it easier than, say, Midnight's Children or the Satanic Verses.
|
|
Abandon all hope
|
|
This is the story of a serial killer driven by unremitting hatred for his wife, her lover and their child, set in the context of the destruction of Kashmir by the Indo-Pakistan conflict. If you like bleak and unmixed pessimism, perhaps you will enjoy this book, but if you believe there is a shred of goodness in people, then it is not for you. None of the main characters is the sort of person you would want to spend time with. As one expects with Rushdie, the style is clever - too clever - and a great deal of work has gone into linking the story with an improbably large number of newsworthy events. If you want an elegy for the lost harmony between Indian Islam and Hinduism, read instead Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, told in effortlessly beautiful English and conveying a belief in the human capacity for good.
|
|
A captivating narrative from the master of storytelling
|
I once heard someone describe reading Rushdie as like wading through treacle. I think this is an excellent description of his style. Dense and rich yet delicious and rewarding.
Shalimar the Clown was a fascinating read, both exciting and thought provoking. Rushdie's greatest skill is his ability to create a narrative world in which personal and global matters are inextricably tied.
Vast, epic and emotional, this book hurtles along towards a heartstopping climax.
|
|
|
A work of art!
|
With a rich and strongly descriptive style reminiscent of Midnight's Children, Rushdie tells the tale of a love affair gone wrong, polluted by conflict, lust, and betrayal.
The story takes places in different parts of the world, each described so vividly and in such detail that the reader is under the illusion of really being present.
Rushdie introduces a great number of exotic and interesting characters, whose life stories seem nothing but entertaining on the surface but are in fact full of symbolism.
This book, like all of the novels I have read by Rushdie, has multiple dimensions. On the surface it is a tale of a love affair tainted by betrayal and with horrific consequences. On a deeper level one finds the story of Kashmir, a beautiful region torn between Pakistan and India, losing its identity and its natural beauty in the conflict. The third dimension is that of the human struggle, what human beings might or might not do in the face of betrayal and oppression, feeling the need to redefine themselves, obtaining new goals and identities in order to survive and face up to their fate.
This book has left me with a deep impression of Kashmir, and with a sense of sadness for the loss of its beauty in the face of violence. Rushdie has touched me to the core with this novel.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada